05 May 2016

Minister Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Mr Kitso Mokaila says his ministry is working tirelessly to address the water situation in Moroka village and around the country. 

Addressing a Kgotla meeting in Moroka village recently, Mr Mokaila told residents, whose village has been experiencing constant water shortages, that while Ntimbale dam carried the capacity to supply the entire North East district with water, the problem was the inadequacy of the water supply infrastructure to reticulate water as needed.

He attributed the delays in upgrading the infrastructure to lack of funds needed for the project.

Thus, he urged residents to note that the problem was not peculiar to their region alone as several other parts of the country were similarly grappling with water supply difficulties.

He also appealed for calm and patience and assured residents that his ministry would work tirelessly to find a lasting solution to the problem.

The minister also told them that government was presently awaiting funding to the tune of US$150 million from the World Bank to be used to tackle water distribution and supply challenges through-out the country.

On the other hand, residents had appealed to government to speedily address the problem of persistent water shortages in their village.

They also called on government to avail funds to Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) to enable the water authority to efficiently carry out its mandate of supplying the nation with water.

Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson, Ms Sibahle Shabani said giving WUC necessary funding would greatly enhance the corporation’s capacity to supply the North East district with water from Ntimbale dam. Ms Shabani also suggested that boreholes that supplied their village with water prior to the take-over of water provision services by WUC be re-equipped and used a back-up systems to rescue the situation whenever the main supply system encountered challenges.

A resident, Mr Edward Makhumalo also proposed that the boreholes be re-equipped, but observed that reticulating electricity to them and using it to pump water be considered as it would be more efficient.

Mr Makhumalo also appealed to landboards to work hand in hand with key service providers to ensure that land was serviced before it was allocated.

That, he said would solve the problem of people not having access to basic amenities such as water and electricity because their homes were outside service provision maps. ENDS